Playoff Previews: Finals - MOS vs CAL

[Doomsday 4,130]

Playoff Previews: Continental Cup Finals

Moscow Menace vs. Calgary Wranglers

 

 It's been a long season, but the table has finally been set for the Continental Cup Finals. The two-time defending champions, the Seattle Bears, have finally been dethroned, and the VHL will be crowning a new champion this season. The Calgary Wranglers, who thanked the Bears for dispatching the top-seeded Vancouver Wolves by ending their two-year reign atop the league in a six-game series. However, Tyler Barabash's squad will face their toughest challenge of the season, as Victor Alfredsson's Moscow Menace continued their savage assault on the European Conference by putting an end to Ryan Kastelic and the Riga Reign in five games, just like a certain handsome VSN writer predicted. The ultimate prize is on the line, who will prevail?

 

Road To the Cup

 

For the Moscow Menace, their road to the Continental Cup continued just as it has all season long: brutal efficiency that would make Mother Russia proud. Randoms, the final Season 63 player left in the VHL, and Jet Jaguar continued their post-season dominance, as their 14 points were tied for the league lead in post-season points. Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen's dominant season continues, as his 12 points and +9 have provided instrumental to keeping the Menace's dangerous offence rolling, along with keeping the puck out of their own net. Dean Clarke's ten assists, along with ten from Werbenjagermanjensen, have established Moscow's elite ability to cycle the puck and make quick work of opposing defences. Despite the best efforts of Riga and Ryan Kastelic, they were sent home courtesy of Jet Jaguar's series-clinching goal, naturally assisted by Werbenjagermanjensen and Mat Rocco. They now go to the Continental Cup Finals with their biggest question being how many games will it take to hoist the Cup?

 

Calgary, however, is no pushover. After a tough series against the D.C. Dragons that went to six games in the first round, the Wranglers got the unenviable task of taking on the two-time defending champions in the Seattle Bears. Despite their higher seed, many predicted that the Wranglers' season would end here. What ended instead, however, was Seattle's reign as league champions. Calgary's defence, starring Tyler Barabash Jr. and Charlie Paddywagon, held the Bears to just one goal in first two games of the series as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead. Seattle narrowed the gap to 3-2 over the next two games, with poor discipline from several players drawing the ire of General Manager Tyler Barabash in the form of a profanity-laced tirade following the 4-2 Game Five loss. After Scott Greene scored an early goal for Seattle in Game Six, it looked as if the Wranglers were destined to become the latest victims of the 3-1 curse. However, goals from Ondrei Ohradka, Tyler Barabash Jr. and Sigard Gunnar suddenly put the Bears down 3-1 by the end of the first period, and they never recovered. Now the Wranglers advance to face their defence’s ultimate test: Moscow. 

 

Why Moscow Should Win

 

Calgary's defence is getting a lot of hype, which makes it easy to sleep on Moscow's defence. While their defensive core isn't as deep as that of the Wranglers', when you can boast having either Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen or Vladimir Pavlov on the ice at all times, you ensure that Tyler Barabash Jr, the only forward on Calgary's roster in the top ten for playoff points, receives coverage from an elite defender every time he steps onto the ice. Shutting down Barabash Jr. would lead to a considerable amount of pressure on netminder JB Rift to keep up his current play, which has benefitted greatly from Calgary's elite defensive play. In a duel of the netminders, I trust Raymond Bernard to keep Calgary's weaker forward core off the board than I do Rift keeping Jet Jaguar, Randoms, Gritty and company out of the net. Their deep group of forwards will be the toughest test yet for Calgary.

 

Why Calgary Should Win

 

Defence wins championships, and boy do the Wranglers have the defensemen capable of living up to that moniker. Rookie defenseman Edwin THE Encarnacion, the first overall pick of the S70 VHL Entry Draft, has 544 TPE, and that's the lowest amount of this defensive group. Charlie Paddywagon, Brady Stropko Jr, Jordan Tonn and Cody Smith round out this group, which has proven to be the heart of this Wranglers team. They'll need to be better than ever to halt the likes of Jet Jaguar and Randoms, along with the depth of the Menace's strong group of forwards. However, Moscow's defensemen are not as deep a core as Calgary's, and despite the fact that their forwards are weaker, they could match up well here. Kris Rice and Mikko Lahtinen could be difference-makers towards a Cup win, and frankly, Calgary needs them to be. JB Rift has been a monster in net, and that must continue as well as, despite the help he has in front of him, his job is about to get much tougher. 

 

 

VSN's Pick

 

The ultimate fire vs. ice series, the league's best offence in the Moscow Menace takes on the top defence in the Calgary Wranglers. With all the momentum in the world riding with the Moscow Menace, can they be stopped? Currently, I can best describe the Calgary Wranglers' defensive core as a dam, holding up a river that continues to swell. They are supporting an offence that hinges on one forward, a goalie that is quite frankly outkicking his coverage so to speak, and now must keep the deadliest offence yet off the board. My friends, that dam is about to break. Moscow's offence will prove to be the task that Calgary's overburdened defensive core ultimately struggles with, although I still expect this to be a tough series that either team could win. Ultimately, I believe the Moscow Menace will conclude their dominant season with the ultimate prize, the Continental Cup, winning the series in six games. 

 

Players Mentioned: @Bushito, @Victor, @Enorama, @hedgehog337, @gorlab, @flyersfan1453, @Kyle, @Matmenzinger, @DMaximus, @DoktorFunk, @animal74, @Big Mac, @Devise, @Mr_Hatter, @eaglesfan036, @Tagger, @MexicanCow123, @cody73, @Ricer13, @Beketov

[MexicanCow123 914]

Great read as per usual! 

[Victor 10,940]

Mat Rocco, mid playoff acquisition is fresh and that makes the difference @Matmenzinger

[Big Mac 310]

1 hour ago, Doomsday said:

Playoff Previews: Continental Cup Finals

Moscow Menace vs. Calgary Wranglers

 

 It's been a long season, but the table has finally been set for the Continental Cup Finals. The two-time defending champions, the Seattle Bears, have finally been dethroned, and the VHL will be crowning a new champion this season. The Calgary Wranglers, who thanked the Bears for dispatching the top-seeded Vancouver Wolves by ending their two-year reign atop the league in a six-game series. However, Tyler Barabash's squad will face their toughest challenge of the season, as Victor Alfredsson's Moscow Menace continued their savage assault on the European Conference by putting an end to Ryan Kastelic and the Riga Reign in five games, just like a certain handsome VSN writer predicted. The ultimate prize is on the line, who will prevail?

 

Road To the Cup

 

For the Moscow Menace, their road to the Continental Cup continued just as it has all season long: brutal efficiency that would make Mother Russia proud. Randoms, the final Season 63 player left in the VHL, and Jet Jaguar continued their post-season dominance, as their 14 points were tied for the league lead in post-season points. Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen's dominant season continues, as his 12 points and +9 have provided instrumental to keeping the Menace's dangerous offence rolling, along with keeping the puck out of their own net. Dean Clarke's ten assists, along with ten from Werbenjagermanjensen, have established Moscow's elite ability to cycle the puck and make quick work of opposing defences. Despite the best efforts of Riga and Ryan Kastelic, they were sent home courtesy of Jet Jaguar's series-clinching goal, naturally assisted by Werbenjagermanjensen and Mat Rocco. They now go to the Continental Cup Finals with their biggest question being how many games will it take to hoist the Cup?

 

Calgary, however, is no pushover. After a tough series against the D.C. Dragons that went to six games in the first round, the Wranglers got the unenviable task of taking on the two-time defending champions in the Seattle Bears. Despite their higher seed, many predicted that the Wranglers' season would end here. What ended instead, however, was Seattle's reign as league champions. Calgary's defence, starring Tyler Barabash Jr. and Charlie Paddywagon, held the Bears to just one goal in first two games of the series as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead. Seattle narrowed the gap to 3-2 over the next two games, with poor discipline from several players drawing the ire of General Manager Tyler Barabash in the form of a profanity-laced tirade following the 4-2 Game Five loss. After Scott Greene scored an early goal for Seattle in Game Six, it looked as if the Wranglers were destined to become the latest victims of the 3-1 curse. However, goals from Ondrei Ohradka, Tyler Barabash Jr. and Sigard Gunnar suddenly put the Bears down 3-1 by the end of the first period, and they never recovered. Now the Wranglers advance to face their defence’s ultimate test: Moscow. 

 

Why Moscow Should Win

 

Calgary's defence is getting a lot of hype, which makes it easy to sleep on Moscow's defence. While their defensive core isn't as deep as that of the Wranglers', when you can boast having either Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen or Vladimir Pavlov on the ice at all times, you ensure that Tyler Barabash Jr, the only forward on Calgary's roster in the top ten for playoff points, receives coverage from an elite defender every time he steps onto the ice. Shutting down Barabash Jr. would lead to a considerable amount of pressure on netminder JB Rift to keep up his current play, which has benefitted greatly from Calgary's elite defensive play. In a duel of the netminders, I trust Raymond Bernard to keep Calgary's weaker forward core off the board than I do Rift keeping Jet Jaguar, Randoms, Gritty and company out of the net. Their deep group of forwards will be the toughest test yet for Calgary.

 

Why Calgary Should Win

 

Defence wins championships, and boy do the Wranglers have the defensemen capable of living up to that moniker. Rookie defenseman Edwin THE Encarnacion, the first overall pick of the S70 VHL Entry Draft, has 544 TPE, and that's the lowest amount of this defensive group. Charlie Paddywagon, Brady Stropko Jr, Jordan Tonn and Cody Smith round out this group, which has proven to be the heart of this Wranglers team. They'll need to be better than ever to halt the likes of Jet Jaguar and Randoms, along with the depth of the Menace's strong group of forwards. However, Moscow's defensemen are not as deep a core as Calgary's, and despite the fact that their forwards are weaker, they could match up well here. Kris Rice and Mikko Lahtinen could be difference-makers towards a Cup win, and frankly, Calgary needs them to be. JB Rift has been a monster in net, and that must continue as well as, despite the help he has in front of him, his job is about to get much tougher. 

 

 

VSN's Pick

 

The ultimate fire vs. ice series, the league's best offence in the Moscow Menace takes on the top defence in the Calgary Wranglers. With all the momentum in the world riding with the Moscow Menace, can they be stopped? Currently, I can best describe the Calgary Wranglers' defensive core as a dam, holding up a river that continues to swell. They are supporting an offence that hinges on one forward, a goalie that is quite frankly outkicking his coverage so to speak, and now must keep the deadliest offence yet off the board. My friends, that dam is about to break. Moscow's offence will prove to be the task that Calgary's overburdened defensive core ultimately struggles with, although I still expect this to be a tough series that either team could win. Ultimately, I believe the Moscow Menace will conclude their dominant season with the ultimate prize, the Continental Cup, winning the series in six games. 

 

Players Mentioned: @Bushito, @Victor, @Enorama, @hedgehog337, @gorlab, @flyersfan1453, @Kyle, @Matmenzinger, @DMaximus, @DoktorFunk, @animal74, @Big Mac, @Devise, @Mr_Hatter, @eaglesfan036, @Tagger, @MexicanCow123, @cody73, @Ricer13, @Beketov

Talk about Sigard Gunnar some more he’s an underrated beauty

[gorlab 4,321]

This series gonna be a pressure cooker for JB Rift. 

[Jubis 1,348]

4 hours ago, gorlab said:

This series gonna be a pressure cooker for JB Rift. 

MVP !!

[Doomsday 4,130]

On 3/7/2020 at 1:31 PM, Doomsday said:

Ultimately, I believe the Moscow Menace will conclude their dominant season with the ultimate prize, the Continental Cup, winning the series in six games. 

 

Confirmed for wizard.